Re-Assessing Assessments with SEL
CTA New Educators Weekend 2022
Land Acknowledgement
In Anaheim, CA, we pursue life, work, and education on the traditional lands of the Tongva (Gabrieleno), Acjachemen (Juaneño), Kizh (Gabrieleno) peoples. We acknowledge and honor these original inhabitants of this region, past, present, and emerging.
While we wait to get started, go to bit.ly/nice2meet22
and answer the prompt
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Fall 2022
Do Now:
AGENDA
Starting the Lesson
Trackers
Teach-Backs
Unconventional Assessments
Ending the Lesson
Overcoming Potential Barriers
Materials for Today
Today I will: explore unconventional, highly effective SEL-aligned assessment techniques
So that I can: leverage effective practices in assessment
I know I got it if: I get stuff I can use now.
How are you feeling today?
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Buffet Analogy
You don’t eat everything at the buffet. You take a look at the spread, take want you want, leave what you don’t, and come back for seconds.
Fold a sheet of paper like so…
Then number the quadrants like so…
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When you see Thurgood the Thinking Emoji, you’ll be prompted to do a quick processing activity in one of the quadrants.
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A little bit about me.
The Burnout Issue
“Burnout is not the result of how many hours that you work. It’s more related to the effort and impact connection.”
--Fisher, Frey, Smith, Hattie, Rebound (2021)
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Reflect
Write down three “wins” from this past school year. It doesn’t matter how big or small these were.
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“Asking yourself why you wanted to achieve the goal in the first place helps to recenter to your purpose.”
--Tu-Hien Le “Why You Should Spend Time Reflecting On Your Wins”
Start of the Lesson
Objective
Today I will: explore unconventional, highly effective SEL-aligned assessment techniques
So that I can: leverage effective practices in assessment
I know I got it if: I get stuff I can use now.
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Fall 2022
Do Now:
AGENDA
Starting the Lesson
Trackers
Teach-Backs
Unconventional Assessments
Ending the Lesson
Overcoming Potential Barriers
Materials for Today
Today I will: explore unconventional, highly effective SEL-aligned assessment techniques
So that I can: leverage effective practices in assessment
I know I got it if: I get stuff I can use now.
Mood Meters
Trackers
Consider Using Trackers
Lisa Johnson (techchef4u.com), author of Creatively Productive developed these “Trackers” to help students self-monitor.
🖍️ PDF Version
Go to spaceandquiet.com to find:
Using the Well-Being Index
Continue Social Emotional Learning
A mental health awareness site, gritx.org, built by the good folks at UCSF to help anybody face and meet challenges.
bit.ly/AVcalm - AVUHSD’s Virtual Calming Room
Chapter 2 - Start of the Lesson
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“When students experience success, their brains release dopamine, a chemical that activates feelings of satisfaction.”
Teach Backs
The Know Show Chart
A two-column T chart can be used to provide students with an opportunity to describe what they know and how they can show what they know.
The know/show chart should be based on the success criteria and invite students to reflect on what they have learned and how they can demonstrate their learning.
Know - let’s you know which ideas stuck with your students.
Show - provides students with opportunities to propose alternative assessment methods.
TeachThought has a great list of 100 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Know
Or have students record what they know on FlipGrid. Here’s my 5th grader Audrey demonstrating her understanding of diffusion. 🤫
Teach-Backs & Summaries
The Study Guide Teach-Back Using Flipgrid
Turn a traditional unit test into a high-yielding, low prep exam that uses the teach-back method.
Prompt: Look again at the enter ticket from WEEK 06 in Google Classroom. From Chapter 3 of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, explain the main features of the 3 areas of the brain and why it's important to know this for teaching. You have up to 45 seconds to record a response. (20 Points)
Teach-Backs & Summaries
Teach-Back Translations: Teach it to Young Mr. Rivas
Have students re-teach the content so that a younger student could understand.
Use a prompt like, “Dumb this down so that five-year-old Mr. Rivas can understand” (while projecting a picture of five-year-old you [see image below] or your own kids). Alternatively you can have students role-play.
Pause…
At your tables, please discuss: What is something to hold on to so far?
Unconventional Assessments
Not to be confused with NWEA…
Susan Gayle Todd explains how using a Map Test empowers students, and acts as “an excellent opportunity for students to demonstrate what they DO know rather than being scrutinized for what they DO NOT know.” For this procedure each student is given a set of about 20 cards (though it can work in pairs or small groups as well). Each card is labeled with a major theme, image, character, term, etc… from the current unit. Then students are given the following set of directions (or something like it)...
Single-Column Rubrics - Template 1 & Template 2
Also known as single-point rubrics, these rubrics contain just a single column of defined criteria instead of a full menu of performance levels. Gonzales (2015) explains the benefits of this technique:
These are great for self-assessment.
Single-Column Rubrics
What Do You Meme?
What’s it?
Students show their understanding by creating memes. For example, after watching an intro video or even after a lesson, students generate a meme as a response.
Why it works:
Summary skills
Motivation from the package, not the content
A familiar medium for students
Often involves wit and satire* - higher order thinking -
Ideas for Use - Daily Do-Now
Have students watch Flowcabulary’s News in Rap, CNN10, or something like those as a daily warm-up (or read Newsela, etc…).
Then have students spend 5 minutes creating a meme in response to a current event that resonates to them, along with an explanation.
Then relate it to your content!
Resources
This example came from Heather Marshall who blogged and made demos.
At some point I came across this template.
Strategy 2: Clickbait
Summaries
What’s it?
Clickbait refers to “a form of false advertisement [that] uses hyperlink text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and … [is] typically sensationalized or misleading.”
Why it works:
Developing summary skills
Motivation from the package, not the content
Higher on Bloom’s Taxonomy
How to Get Your Husband to Do ANY Chore
Lady Macbeth Advice
Remove Any Damn Spot
Crime Scene Clean Up
Get Advice for Your Future Career
Ask Three Weird Sisters
Headline Goes Here
Add a Subheading Here
What Mr. Rivas Tweeted That Has the Internet In an Uproar
Why Art Teacher REFUSE to Work with Him
10 Things AVTI Teachers Do During Every Networking Meetings
Number 5 Will SHOCK You!
Headline Goes Here
Add a Subheading Here
Find Your Missing Piece
Pythagoras help you find your soul mate with a simple formula!
Strengthen Your Cell Wall
Signs that you’re actually a plant!
Headline Goes Here
Add a Subheading Here
Headline Goes Here
Add a Subheading Here
Headline Goes Here
Add a Subheading Here
Emoji Summaries
A highly effective, yet simple-to-implement strategy is to prompt students to come up with three possible titles for what was just taught. To mix it up a bit, you can ask students to assign emojis to the titles or to use emojis as the titles. Have them turn to a partner and justify why they chose those particular emojis.
Eleanor Roosevelt High School (Riverside, CA) History teacher Amanda Sandoval recently tweeted a brilliant lesson in which she had students summarize the Bill of Rights using emojis. Here’s a template.
Skeletal System
Support
Bones
Shape
Protection
Movement
Taboo
This activity works just like the board game of the same name, but uses content area terminology for the game cards instead. Each student is given an index card and is instructed to print one of the vocabulary words on the top line of the card. On the lines below, the students are to list five words they might use to describe that term. See the “photosynthesis” example from Robin Anglin.
To play, one player draws a card and tries to get her team to correctly guess the word on the card without saying any of the descriptive words listed underneath (these are the “taboo” words). Behind her, a member of the opposing team will stand with a buzzer to ensure the Taboo words are not used. Vary by giving teams time limits for guessing, or have multiple teams playing at the same time.
Play-Doh Vocab
After students create two sets of the game cards, split students into two teams, and shuffle each set of cards. Distribute the game cards. Have each team make Play-Doh sculptures of terms on the game cards. Then they try to match their cards with the other teams' sculptures. The goal is to get the other team to match their game cards with sculptures.
Come up with a term or a topic we covered in Health class this summer.
For example, a body system, the STI you researched, sleep info, drugs, vaping, first aid, neurological disorders, etc…
Then write down five facts about the topic.
Come up with a term or a topic we covered in Health class this summer.
For example, a body system, the STI you researched, sleep info, drugs, vaping, first aid, neurological disorders, etc…
Then write down five facts about the topic.
But don’t write down the the term.
Write your name at the top of the page.
Have two other students confirm the accuracy of what you wrote.
Have them write their names at the bottom corners to confirm they fact checked you.
David Rivas
Justin T.
Taylor S.
David Rivas
Justin T.
Taylor S.
Do this at least twice with two terms.
Turn them in to Mr. Rivas.
Then we use these as snowballs…
After the the timer goes off, each side counts the snowballs on their side of the room.
Each snowball = 1 point for the other team.
Then each team reads the contents as a team, and they get 1 point per correct answer.
Team with the most points at the end wins!
Pixton.com
This digital comic maker is two parts Bitmoji and one part PowToons. Useful for having students show understanding or for the teacher to deliver content. Here’s a quick tutorial video. Thanks to Amanda Payne EHS for this tip.
Mr. Asaro (Knight Prep Jr. High) used it to take a class picture before assigning students a summary assignment using Pixton.
Denise Wilkins’ (LHS) students demonstrating his understanding of color schemes
Ending the
Lesson
Q. Q? Q!
Interactive Slides
(Poor Man’s Nearpod)
What’s it?
Have students follow along a presentation slide and interact with the content being delivered as the presentation goes on.
Why it works:
Summary skills
Cues & Questioning**
HLQs lead to deeper learning
Graphic organizers help students process and cement learning
Interactions (the 2 RED boxes below):
Watch this video, pause and take notes as needed:
Throw in a silly Easter egg like Little Mr. Rivas!
Interactions (the 2 RED boxes below):
The video mentions 3 story terms that we will need to discuss when we study the book Things Fall Apart.
They are Hamartia, Hubris, and Catharsis.
In the space below, define each of these terms so that a 5 year old would understand.
Watch this video, pause and take notes as needed:
Hamartia-
Hubris-
Catharsis-
Dumb it down for Little Mr. Rivas!
Explain hubris to a 5 year-old.
In this space, explain HUBRIS to 5-year old Mr. Rivas.
In the space below, type two multiple choice questions that have the following criteria:
Answer here.
Question.
Ask here.
Question?
What questions do you still have?
Or
What questions do you think I want you to ask?
Ask here.
Question!
“I hope __________ is NOT on the test!”
In the space below, EXIT Ticket prompt
Answer here.
In the space below, EXIT Ticket prompt
Answer here.
In Google Docs, students can track word count by clicking on Tools, then Word count (or Ctrl+Shift+C). Here is a template.
Overcoming Potential Barriers
50+ Strategies for engaging students in learning I’m compiling.
Categories: 🗣️ Demonstrating, 💕 Collaborating, 🔁 Practicing, 📣 Coaching & Facilitating, 🚊 Classroom Management, and 📚 Tips for ELA
LAUNCH:
"Better is possible. It does not take genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all, it takes a willingness to try."
From Surgeon and author Atul Gawande’s Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance